On Wednesday, January 14, 2026, at 10:50 a.m., Hettie Belle Graham let slip the

mortal coil and stepped out brave, barefoot, and brand new onto the dirt road

leading up to the top of Brooks Mountain, where she was born 90 years ago.

Born August 6, 1935, she was the seventh of eight children born there to Joseph

Greene and Ada Mae Bragg. She was the last survivor of her birth family. Her

parents both lived to 93, outliving her by three years.

Her childhood memories of life on the mountain were happy and filled with

wonder. She did not mind the hardships of farm life nor walking two miles to and

from school, and she would cry in the wintertime when Grandpa would not let

them go due to bad weather.

At 19, she got a job at Hinton Hospital delivering trays. In those days, Hinton was

a busy railroad town. She loved her newfound freedom. She loved going down to

the train depot to watch trains filled with soldiers moving across the country. At

22, she married Donald Curtis Richmond and had three children before his

untimely death, leaving her a widow with a three-year-old, a two-year-old, and an

infant who turned five months old the day his father died. She never wavered in

her care for her children. She later married Columbus Jackson Graham. They

had two more children, and on February 14, 1969, the family made the move to

Woodbridge, Virginia, where she resided until her death. It was her wish to die in

her own home, and due to the valiant and herculean efforts of her son Jack, she

was able to do just that. She slipped away in the warm and love-filled home she

had created.

Hettie was a homemaker. She made a warm and loving home from an empty

house. She filled it with magic and love. Her door was always open to help

anyone. She gave birth to five children but managed to raise a neighborhood full

of them. There was always room for an extra plate at her table. Our home was

always full of friends. Laughter rang through the rooms and yard. In the summer,

she made gallons of Kool-Aid. In the winter, it was hot chocolate and

cinnamon-sugar toast.

Hettie was a magic maker. She turned ordinary days into holidays. There were

Sunday dinners, birthday parties, and Christmas parties. Her food-themed

holiday dinners were legendary in the neighborhood and at her jobs. She opened

her home to everyone and welcomed them with love and joy.

After all her children were in school, Hettie returned to work at the Econo Lodge

Corporation, where she was head laundress and manager of the housekeeping

staff. She finished her professional full-time employment at Potomac Hospital,

working there until she retired in 1998. She worked part-time at Kmart

Corporation until they went out of business. She worked until she was 72 and

truly missed not working afterward.

In her retirement, she was an avid gardener, taking great delight in planning her

garden all fall and winter. She loved playing in the dirt and taught all her children

and grandchildren the art of “mud pie” making. Her flower gardens brightened G

Street for 57 years. She collected seeds up until weeks before her death, always

planning on a bright and bountiful future for her children.

She was a traveler and an adventurer. She traveled to 14 states and was a

member of a senior bus travel group, which took her on many happy adventures.

She said one time that if she were younger, she would like to be a “hobo” and

carry her home in a sack on her back. She had the heart of a gypsy.

She took up several new hobbies and perfected others in her 70s. In 1998, she

entered her Peanut Butter Fudge in the Prince William County Fair and won the

blue ribbon. This was the beginning of her cooking competitions, and each year

for the next three years, she won blue ribbons. Finally, in the third year, she won

the blue ribbon and the purple Best of Show for her German Chocolate Cake.

These big wins put her on the front page of The Potomac News, our local

hometown paper, as well as the front page of the Washington Post Food section.

She retired from competitive cooking at that time. “Best to go out on top. Now I

will just cook those things for my family.” In 2009, she wrote her first book,

Jumping off the Chicken House, and was actually working on a second book at

the time of her death.

Hettie was a God-fearing woman and taught her children and grandchildren to

pray. From the time we could talk, she would say our prayers with us at night.

She was everything a child could ask for in a mother. She loved us when we

were unlovable, forgave us when we were unforgivable, and was the biggest

defender of each of us. She was our dearest friend. This world will never see the

likes of her again.

Preceded in death by her husband, Columbus Jackson Graham; her son, Donald

Curtis Richmond; and her grandson, Streeter Jackson Graham, she leaves

behind to cherish her memory her children: Donna Brown (Glen), Corsonda

Richmond, Roberta Graham, and Christopher Jack Graham (Renee);

grandchildren: David Richmond (Jessie), Glen Brown Jr., Megan Ayers;

great-grandson: Oliver Jackson Richmond. Also, her youngest and favorite child,

Buddy, her Belgian Malinois service dog, who was her constant and loyal

companion for the last four years of her life. When her feet hit the floor, so did

his.

Her dear and beloved sister-in-law, Sue Morgan; extended family including Brian

Coffey (Susie); and Janet Smith, a loving friend who was with her until the end. A

host of nieces and nephews.

Now the heavenly circle is complete. Lift your voices to the ages, singing holy,

holy, holy.

“Her children will rise up and call her blessed.” —Proverbs 31:28

Funeral services will be 1:00 P.M. Saturday, January 31, 2026 with Pastor Robbie Merritt officiating.

Weather permitting, burial will follow in the Graham Family Cemetery at Tug Creek.

Visitation will be from noon until time of services Saturday at the funeral

parlors.